Wednesday/Thursday TV Report: Obama Interrupted

President Obama's speech at the memorial for the Arizona shooting Wednesday night wreaked havoc at the prime time line-up. ABC had to preempt Cougar Town and therefore had a lesser base to work with for the debut of their new show Off the Map, which they then decided to repeat the following day after a new Grey's Anatomy episode.

Modern Family - Loved all three storylines this week. It was lovely seeing 24's Mary Lynn Rajskub on TV again, if only briefly, as Mitchell's high school girlfriend. I admit, I didn't see the twist in the end there, but how awesomely melodramatic were Cameron and Mitchell at the possibility of Mitchell being a possible father to her kid? Also funny was Gloria convincing their house guests that Jay was slow in the head and the hilarious mis-communication between the house guests and Manny/Jay to confirm Gloria's lies was absolutely priceless. But I've saved the best for last because again we have an episode that shows how PERFECT Claire and Phil are together. They love cheesy, dumb 3D sequels and horrible puns and Phil even said, "I love us." I love them, too.

Cougar Town - Pre-empted for next week, but apparently they reference Community, so already I know I'm going to love it.

Off the Map - Here's the thing, I *really like* the three young actors involved and they are pretty much the reason why I'm watching. With that said, the show itself at the moment feels very unremarkable. Many have said it's Grey's Anatomy in a jungle, and for the most part it's pretty true. The setting though, while exotic, actually makes the pacing a bit slower than if it was set in another hospital dragging the show down, at least in the pilot. The character themselves don't really make any indelible impression on me, but I'm hoping that changes. It's also a wee bit distracting when I notice certain locations that were used in Lost. In any case, I will give this show some time to find its sea legs, but not too much. I find it's getting easier for me to just drop shows out of whim.

Grey's Anatomy - Was anyone else a bit blindsided by Callie's bombshell news at the end there? I mean I guess it's not so shocking, but I spent so much of the episode getting angry at Callie for being so stubborn, that now to find there was actually a reason for her bitchiness throughout the episode, it was a lot to swallow. The whole conceit with the first year students and the evaluations and the race for chief was just okay for me. Great seeing Buffy alum Adam Busch go toe to toe with Christina though. Don't get me started on the whole Teddy marrying for insurance thing. I initially thought I'd like it, but now I'm not sure.